Incredible views of Category 5 Hurricane Dorian near peak intensity

Reaching high-end Category 5 strength, Dorian is a historic hurricane — the strongest on record to affect the Bahamas. Its 185 mph maximum sustained winds are close to the highest ever observed in the Atlantic and it features textbook presentation from the vantage point of space.

The storm is nearly perfectly symmetrical, and a ring of towering thunderstorms surrounds its unmistakable eye. The clouds surrounding the eye exhibit a “stadium effect” expanding outward with altitude like a sports venue.

Dorian attained such exceptional strength through a process known as rapid intensification, in which its peak winds increased more than 35 mph in 24 hours. It started Friday as a Category 2 (with 105 mph winds), before becoming a high-end Category 4 (with 150 mph winds) Saturday and a Category 5 Sunday.

Here are several more extraordinary views of the storm:

Frightening yet mesmerizing close-up #GOESEast combined visible-infrared animation of the eye of Hurricane #Dorian making landfall on Great Abaco Island courtesy of @CIRA_CSU First part of loop is 30 second imagery, 2nd part is 1-minute imagery which is why it appears to speed up pic.twitter.com/3qSOAUwEeA

#Dorian's pressure (913mb) is now stronger than #Irma's (914mb). The winds of 180 mph and it's low pressure both place in the top five strongest Atlantic storms on record. Now on a collision course with the Abaco's. It will slow/stall in the next 24 hours over the north #Bahamaspic.twitter.com/DH8NF3WpkF

Jason SamenowJason Samenow is The Washington Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist. He earned a master's degree in atmospheric science and spent 10 years as a climate change science analyst for the U.S. government. He holds the Digital Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association. Follow